Before there were cameras, people documented how the world and its inhabitants looked like through paintings.
The materials required to paint in watercolor can be easily carried in a compact carrying case.
The only shortcoming is its durability.
View in the Serampore Road, Kolkata, India.
Watercolours are fragile documents, explainsWatercolour World, a UK-based charity that has digitized thousands of centuries-old watercolor paintings.
Watercolors fade over time if exposed to daylight and are vulnerable to changes in temperature and humidity.
But as a result, they dont get the public attention they might deserve.
Watercolours can easily fall into obscurity.
For example, an army officer making a set of pictures depicting the exotic places he was stationed.
These sketches were then passed down through the family.
Rock-cut tombs, Beni Hasan, Egypt.
Undated
View of a glacier between high mountains covered with clouds; shepherd with goats in the foreground.
Circa 1825-35
Battle of Bailen, 16th-19th July 1808. circa 1895.
Allahabad, from the Right Bank of the Jumna, India.
1865
Harbour Street, Kingston.
c.1821
The Thames at Cold Harbour, Blackwall.
1896
Lambeth Fair, Fore Street, Lambeth.
c.1850
Grinding sugar cane in a windmill, Antigua.
Rough Shooting in Windsor Great Park.
